“The girl in the woods” is a 2015 short film. Ali’s friend Mert (Aslim) and fiancé Ceren (Aybike Sahin) become increasingly more concerned about him after he mysteriously goes missing – the only clues as to his whereabouts being a brief glimpse of him heading into a nearby forest and a strange text message to Mert that simply says “Find me”. The score was written by Gergo Elekes. I’m always excited about a score from him since our musical tastes and influences are quite similar. Just a few months ago I listened to the brilliant “Moth”.

Gergo Elekes is one of the composers of the new generation who knows darkness and how to express it best. He is not afraid to explore the more disturbing place where ambient music can go and I can always tell that he’s a fan of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Influences aside he’s beginning to develop his own brand of atmospheric darkness and I am already a big fan. Take “Finale” from this score for example; it makes me think of the black and white wasteland of a NIN video but with colorful patches every now and then brought on by Gergo. It’s industrial rock with a twist.

He doesn’t take bi-dimensional snapshot of scenes or emotions; his cues had depth and make me want to explore what lies beneath of inside. “The girl in the woods” isn’t as dark as “Moth”; it has a crack that lets some light get in but this only makes the score more interesting to hear. I like the movement of the title cue “The girl in the woods”; it makes me think of a water flowing and bring with it emotions which it then carries further away as it gathers more and more from the places it passes. The abundance of feelings doesn’t make it’s flow heavier; the music can take it.

It’s fascinating to me how much nostalgia a little score like this can bring; Ambient music is my sanctuary, my fortress of solitude and there aren’t many composers these days who can make me think of Brian Eno or the more obscure Chroma Key, Kevin Moore’s bad. I get flashbacks of Radiohead and other explorers of instrumental darkness in “In the night” before the composer brings a wonderfully melodic piano balm in “My fault”; whatever wounds, this musing can help heal them.

The beauty of a short score like this is that there are no filler cues or moments I might want to skip; My favorite piece from “The girl in the woods” is “What was that for”. I can hardly find my words to describe how wonderful this cue is and how it makes me feel. The mood it brings and the images of evokes to me sent me to the most peaceful place in my mind. I could be list in there forever. If you want to know how my favorite kind of ambient music sounds, just try this cue.

Try the entire score, actually and keep your ears open for Gergo Elekes. For me it’s three scores, three favorites so far and I can’t wait for his to start getting bigger projects.